Seleyan Iris
by Auror-007
Summary: Since Spock is spending Valentine's Day with Uhura, Kirk decides to spend his with Spock Prime.


**A/N: A better version of this existed yesterday, but then my windows decided to crash and I LOST IT _ so here is the rushed version 2.0 :P this if the the Kirk/Spock Valentine's Day Festival on facebook.**

***Disclaimer: DO NOT OWN.**

_Spock was given clear instructions, more precisely there was only one instruction: do not come home before six o'clock. But Jim was not answering any of Spock's attempts to communicate and had inhibited the transporter…and if he were human, Spock might have been worried. _

_When he let himself in to Jim's apartment (Which, after many months of Jim's insisting he do so became a habit) the appropriateness of such an emotion was confirmed. _

_There was a mess in the kitchen. _

_In all of the time that Spock knew James Kirk, he had not seen or heard of the man cooking or even expressing the tiniest interest in culinary pursuits. But today, there were pots and pans and food of all sorts sprawled across the counters, and Jim was in the middle of it, frantically tending to a large pot, from which a strange purplish smoke was emitting._

"_Jim?"_

_He spun around and color flooded his cheeks at the sight of Spock's raised eyebrow. "Spock! I was um…just..."_

"_Cooking."_

_Jim looked around the room, "Something like that…. what are you doing here?" He didn't sound angry, only curious and mildly embarrassed._

"_You disabled the transporter. And the communicator."_

"_I know. I was making sure that you wouldn't come back early, so you wouldn't see…this." He motioned toward the chaos surrounding him and his stain-covered apron. _

"_I believe your strategy was unsuccessful, Jim."_

_Kirk gave him a sarcastic smile, though he doubted Spock would receive it as such. "Obviously. Well, since you're here…I made you your favorite."_

"_My favorite what?" Spock asked._

"_Plomeek soup," Jim said as he turned back to the pot and ladled a generous amount of its contents into a bowl._

_Spock hesitantly took swallowed a spoonful of the concoction, which did not at all resemble plomeek soup in sight or taste. "It is…"_

_"The most amazing thing you have ever consumed?" _

_"I was going to say 'distinctive'…"_

_"Is it that bad?"_

_"Jim, I would prefer not to answer that question." Spock said. The look of dejection that flashed across Jim's face before he forced it away was enough to make Spock, for the first time, regret having answered truthfully. As retribution, he ate the rest of the soup despite Jim's objections. Jim watched looking both concerned and impressed._

_"You didn't have to eat that."_

_"I know." There was silence between them, and then Spock asked, "May I ask what prompted this sudden interest in Vulcan cuisine?"_

_"It's Valentine's Day," Kirk said, then when Spock didn't respond, "a day when one makes an effort to show how much they love someone….which come to think of it, I have possibly done the exact opposite of. But I have something else for you too!"_

_"Jim, I require no further nourishment."_

_"I didn't cook anything else, I promise," Jim was still laughing as he disappeared into another room. He reappeared a moment later with a glass container with a bright red-orange flower suspended in the middle._

_"That is a Seleyan Iris," Spock pointed out. "It is found only at the base of Mount Seleya. It is illegal to remove them."_

_"I know…but as _you_ know, I have a very hard time taking no for an answer," Jim said as he placed it next to Spock. "I know how important _Kohlinar_ was to you, and how hard it was for you to give it up. I know you say it is because you thought your time would be better spent in Starfleet. But I know at least partly, you left Mount Seleya because of me. So…I brought it back to you. The man who preserved it assured me it would last as long as it was contained in that chamber."_

_"Jim…" It was a rare moment when Spock was lost for words, and Jim savored this silence. "I have something I also wish to give you…although if I am honest, it has already belonged to you for a long time."_

_"What are you talking about?"_

_"A word – also found only on Vulcan..._T'hy'la."

"_T'hy'la…" Kirk repeated. "What does it mean?"_

Kirk was used to the fragments left from his mind meld with Ambassador Spock on Delta Vega. Mostly they were just fleeting thoughts or vague feelings. But once in a while, it would be a memory, like this one. The Vulcan had told him that the effects would wear off in a few months, but three years later on the rare occasions such as this, they still found their way into his dreams.

But he was up now, and there was no point in trying to go back to sleep, so he turned to look out the window. The sun was rising, tinting everything bright red. And for this moment, it looked like the old Vulcan, at least what little Kirk saw of it as it was falling apart. He wondered if Spock was seeing the same thing. No doubt he was up by now; he was always up at an ungodly hour, even during shore leave.

There was a knock on his door, followed by an inquiring voice, "Captain?" Speak of the devil…or Vulcan.

"Come in, Spock." A moment later Spock appeared, arms behind his back, as he always did when he was preparing his thoughts.

"Captain—Doctor McCoy has just informed me that in Earth time, there is a significance to today's date. He also told me you would explain further, which he then followed with a variety of profanities and declarations of needing 'beauty sleep.'"

Kirk chuckled at Spock's matter-of-fact recounting. "He's talking about Valentine's day. That's why I rescheduled shore leave to fall on this date."

"I am unfamiliar with this holiday."

"It's a day to celebrate love and romance and all that. To show your significant other that you love them."

"I see. Well, if it is indeed your reasoning for scheduling shore leave two weeks ahead of time, I must admit you have chosen an odd location for it."

"I know." Spock had a point. New Vulcan was not the ideal place for lovers…but this was kind of Kirk's own Valentine's Day gift for Spock, even if he would never know it. "But it'll make things all the more interesting."

Spock nodded in acknowledgement of Kirk's comment, which usually meant he did not know what Kirk was going on about. "What is the appropriate course of action if one were to acknowledge this holiday? As I assume Nyota will wish to celebrate it."

Kirk felt his chest ache and ignored to routine pang of sadness whenever Spock mentioned Uhura. It was childish to allow his cultivate his envy, but he couldn't help it. "To tell you the truth, Spock…I am not the person you want to ask about this. As Bones likes to point out often: I'd need to 'cross seven galaxies before I found a woman who doesn't curse my name.' But from my past experience, it's usually best to choose thoughtfully, something that they won't expect."

"Why one do anything thought_less_ly?"

Kirk rolled his eyes. "I'm sure _whatever_ you do, Uhura will love it. Especially if it's from you." Spock nodded and thanked him for the advice—which Kirk was certain had been completely unhelpful – then took his leave. As the door shut behind Spock, Kirk reprimanded the rising flood of jealousy that had begun to force itself through his veins; it brought his thoughts back to Spock Prime's memory, and this gave him an idea. Maybe he could spend Valentine's Day with the Vulcan, even if it wasn't _his _Spock.

"Ambassador Spock is currently occupied," the woman at the desk informed him. He was hoping the Vulcan Science Academy would be more receptive to a friend of one of their most esteemed Professors. He should have known better.

"Well, tell him Jim Kirk is here."

"I'm sorry, but—" Her communicator signaled an incoming hail and she answered it, then after a short conversation, excused herself, and told him that Ambassador Spock was busy and to try back later. As soon as she was out of sight, Kirk made his way behind her desk and fiddled with the communicator until he heard a familiar voice on the other line.

"This is Ambassador Spock."

"And this is Jim Kirk."

There was a long pause. "Jim?"

"I need to talk to you."

The ambassador's home was as beautiful as it was Spartan, as Kirk expected a Vulcan home to be. He sat down at the table, which looked like it had never been used. There was a large window that overlooked a beach, which he was surprised to see moderately populated – he recognized many of them as part of his crew, including Uhura and Spock.

"You should know that you are very important to him," Ambassador Spock set what looked like tea in front of him. It smelled like lemon and earth.

"There are dozens of people out there, how did you know I was looking at him?"

Spock Prime smiled softly. "There are some things that stay the same regardless of which universe you call reality."

"He's important to me too…he has no idea."

"Be patient. After all, it took me almost seven years to come around."

"Speaking of that…" Kirk said, "I have something for you." He reached into the bag he brought and pulled out a familiar red-orange blossom. In the complete quiet, Kirk heard the ambassador's breath hitch.

"…there shouldn't still be side effects," He stated, though Kirk knew that he did not want to talk about the meld.

"I'm used to it now. At least I found a use for it."

"But these only grew…"

"They grow one other place now: the botany lab aboard the _Enterprise_. Hikaru Sulu is something of a genius with plants, but you probably already know that." Kirk studied the Vulcan's face. He made no effort to hide or suppress the emotion, and Kirk could see it in his eyes. Kirk handed him the Iris. "It won't last forever, but…"

"But it will. Thank you." They drank their tea, and not for the first time, Kirk wondered what it would be like to have _his_ Spock feel the way Spock Prime felt about his James Kirk.

"Can I ask you something?" Kirk inquired. "What does T'hy'la mean?"

A nostalgic melancholy washed over Spock's features, and then he smiled into his mug, like someone who is remembering an amusing story. After a moment, his gaze returned to Kirk.

"Look back out there at your first officer."

Kirk complied, feeling the familiar constriction in his chest, and the rapid overflow of loyalty, affection, intimate friendship, and lust that pervaded him.

"How you feel right now" Spock continued, " – if you could freeze this moment and craft it into a word – it would be T'hy'la."


End file.
